High industrial health and safety rating improved to 2.3 accidents per one million completed working hours

Heidenheim. The Voith Group has met its major sustainability goals and thus continued the steady improvement of its eco-management and health and safety record. This is documented in the latest Voith Sustainability Report, which is released today. The Report gives evidence of the company's progress and also points out the areas in which Voith aims to improve further.

On the basis of the figures of fiscal 2011/2012, Voith had defined three central targets for the conservation of natural resources and the protection of the environment: In relation to sales, the power demand is to be reduced by 20 percent, the amount of waste by 25 percent and the consumption of freshwater by 10 percent until fiscal 2017/18. Voith was able to make substantial inroads in these areas: the company managed to reduce its freshwater consumption by 20 percent as early as 2013 und thus met its self-defined goal much earlier than planned. The volume of waste has also been cut down by another four percent last year.

In terms of industrial health and safety, Voith has achieved a rating of 2.3 accidents (previous year 2.8) per million of completed working hours in the area under review 2012/2013. “This makes us a worldwide health and safety leader in our sector. But our efforts won't stop here. We will continue to improve even further," says Dr. Hubert Lienhard, President and Chief Executive Officer of Voith GmbH.

The focus of the fourth edition of the Sustainability Report is on Latin America. Voith is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its Brazilian subsidiary this year. “Today Voith is successfully represented in Brazil with all its Group Divisions. With our 5,700 employees we are practically a local company, and we see ourselves as a responsible Corporate Citizen," says Torsten Kallweit, Head of Corporate Sustainability at Voith. “An example of this is that Voith has been offering training schemes based on the German dual model in Brazil for many years; in addition the company runs its own foundation there and sponsors a school named after its founder Friedrich Voith.”

Voith sets standards in the markets energy, oil & gas, paper, raw materials and transport & automotive. Founded in 1867, Voith employs more than 43,000 people, generates €5.7 billion in sales, operates in over 50 countries around the world and is today one of the biggest family-owned companies in Europe.